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Population genetic structure of the European kestrel Falco tinnunculus in Central Poland

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Abstract

We analysed the genetic structure of the European kestrel population of Central Poland using nine highly polymorphic microsatellite loci. Samples were collected in two urban locations (Warsaw and Łódź) and two rural areas. Sampling locations were at nearly equal distances from each other along an east to west line. We performed genotyping in a total of 99 birds. The results revealed the presence of a genetic structure in the population investigated. Bayesian clustering indicated that samples originated from more than one population. Genetic differentiation was less pronounced among the birds nesting in Warsaw and in the two rural sites, whereas all pairwise comparisons with the Łódź population indicated moderate and significant genetic differentiation. The observed pattern of differentiation might have been caused by two factors: changes in allele frequency between seasons and/or the founding of the urban population of Łódź from a different source population than the urban population from Warsaw. Additionally, we found a rather high gene flow among kestrels from the Warsaw urban area and the two investigated rural areas.

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Acknowledgements

The study was partly supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education grant no. N N304 4078 33. We thank all persons who contributed in the gathering of material for genetic analysis. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable and constructive comments on the paper.

The experiment presented in this paper complies with the current laws of Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, 00-679, Warsaw, Poland

    Robert Rutkowski, Łukasz Rejt & Anna Tereba

  2. Institute of Zoology, Department of Ecology, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, 02-097, Warsaw, Poland

    Alicja Gryczyńska-Siemiątkowska

  3. Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź, Banacha 12/16, 90-237, Lodz, Poland

    Bartosz Janic

Authors
  1. Robert Rutkowski
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  2. Łukasz Rejt
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  3. Anna Tereba
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  4. Alicja Gryczyńska-Siemiątkowska
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  5. Bartosz Janic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Rutkowski.

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Communicated by W. Lutz

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Rutkowski, R., Rejt, Ł., Tereba, A. et al. Population genetic structure of the European kestrel Falco tinnunculus in Central Poland. Eur J Wildl Res 56, 297–305 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0320-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-009-0320-1

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